Israel Launches Global Campaign to Counter Controversial Venice Film Award
Israel is launching a global public diplomacy campaign against the controversial film Collateral Damage, which won a prize at the Venice Film Festival. Officials and politicians condemn the movie as a distorted distortion of IDF operations in Gaza.
Israel is preparing a broad international public diplomacy campaign to counter the film "Collateral Damage," which won the jury prize at the 83rd Venice Film Festival. Senior officials in the National Public Diplomacy Directorate, the Foreign Ministry, and the IDF are holding intensive discussions to formulate a response and refute what they term false claims made in the movie.
"We are deep inside the event," senior public diplomacy officials explained. "In Israeli democracy, there are those who lie and distort to create a narrative that is the complete opposite of reality. There is no genocide in Gaza, and anyone claiming otherwise is lying or has no idea what genocide is." They emphasized that IDF operations strictly target Hamas terrorists while striving to minimize civilian casualties, contrasting this with Hamas's tactics of using civilians as human shields.
Diplomatic and Political Ramifications
The film's release poses significant diplomatic and communications challenges. International media are once again focusing on the destruction in the Gaza Strip rather than standard military definitions of collateral damage. Israeli ambassadors abroad report that friendly governments and Jewish community leaders are raising difficult questions about the ongoing military campaign, particularly as the film relies on testimonies attributed to Israeli soldiers and officers.
Diplomats stress that Israel must immediately launch a proactive campaign presenting verified facts, such as documented instances where the IDF aborted strikes to protect civilians. For example, the military previously canceled operations in June 2024 near a UNRWA school in Nuseirat and halted multiple strikes in February 2024 after detecting unexpected civilian presence.
Ministerial and Political Reactions
Meanwhile, Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar called for severe measures against the film's creators, announcing that he approached the Population and Immigration Authority to examine revoking their Israeli citizenship for alleged breach of trust and collaboration with the enemy during wartime.
"Freedom of expression is not a license to betray the state. Anyone who acts against Israel during wartime must know there will be a price," Minister Miki Zohar stated.
Opposition figures also condemned the project. Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the "Yashar!" party, sharply criticized the creators on social media and in public statements.
"IDF fighters and commanders have been waging a just and grueling war for nearly three years against a cruel enemy that massacred, raped, and abducted children, women, and men on the morning of October 7," Gadi Eisenkot said. "The choice of Israeli creators to stand on an international stage, present a distorted and one-sided picture, and cast moral aspersions on soldiers guarding our homes is moral blindness and a blow to the state in a difficult hour."
Content of the Film
The controversial film was reportedly shot on rooftops in Tel Aviv during the war in Gaza and features interviews with 24 individuals presented as former soldiers from Unit 8200. It alleges harsh policies regarding collateral damage and claims that artificial intelligence systems were utilized to recommend targeting decisions, allegedly resulting in civilian casualties.
